


Pancakes and Birthday Candles

by UnderwhelmingAlchemist



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alpine - Freeform, And Implications, Bucky Barnes Recovering, Bucky Barnes gets a cat, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Not Canon Compliant, One Joke, One Shot, Pancakes, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Short, Spoilers In The Following Tags, With sprinkles, happy birthday bucky barnes, rated teen for:, spoilers over
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-17 08:27:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29963637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnderwhelmingAlchemist/pseuds/UnderwhelmingAlchemist
Summary: Bucky Barnes can rely on two things for every birthday: that Steve will make both a gesture of love and pancakes. Five birthdays come and go, and Bucky and Steve's relationship progresses as Bucky recovers.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Comments: 8
Kudos: 79





	Pancakes and Birthday Candles

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Birthday Bucky Barnes! My absolute favorite character for years deserves something for his birthday, right? Even if he's fictional. Anyways, enjoy!!

Bucky wasn’t really a big birthday person, at least not when it came to himself. Even back in Brooklyn, despite the fact that he’d scrape up every last penny to buy Steve a birthday present and make a terrible cake, he never expected much. Steve couldn’t hold down a job, and there weren’t many people looking to buy art in one of the poorest neighborhoods of Brooklyn. When his birthday came around and Steve apologized for not being able to do much more than make him a drawing or a small painting, he always feigned surprise and insisted that he’d forgotten about the date entirely. It just wasn’t a big deal, mostly because it couldn’t be a big deal.

In the modern day, he’d actually forgotten his birthday a few times. At first it was because he couldn’t keep the date in his head. Afterwards it was because it just didn’t seem important given everything that had been going on in his life at the time.

But Steve never forgot. 

Every year Steve would do something that would make his heart ache for reasons he didn’t quite understand at first.

He’d had four birthdays with Steve in that century so far.

The first one had been small. Bucky had actually forgotten the date and had been confused when he came into the kitchen in search of coffee and had instead found a plate of pancakes, topped with whipped cream, sprinkles, and a candle, sitting in front of his usual seat at the kitchen table. He’d stared at Steve in confusion, brow furrowed and a small frown on his lips. 

Before he could question it, Steve spoke. “Before you say anything, it’s small. I didn’t want to do anything too big and overwhelm you. But I didn’t want to do nothing at all.”

Bucky’s frown deepened as the gears turned in his head, trying to figure out what the hell Steve was alluding to. Steve seemed to catch on to his confusion. 

“It’s your birthday today. March tenth?” he reminded gently. 

The pieces clicked into place in his mind. Right. His birthday was today. He was unsure of how to respond to any of it, though, so he just said a soft ‘thank you’. It took him a moment to realize why Steve was looking at him expectantly. When he remembered, he leaned over and blew out the small candle on top of the pancakes. He looked over at Steve, who was smiling gently at him, and he felt… good. Like he’d done something right. That warm feeling stayed in his chest as he ate his pancakes.

His second birthday with Steve in the twenty-first century started similarly. He completely forgot the date until he went to the kitchen to find a stack of birthday pancakes on the table. By then his memory had gotten better recently, but it was still a little hazy in the mornings. Steve had mentioned his birthday a few days beforehand that time, but it still managed to slip his mind. 

Steve was standing at the kitchen sink, washing the pan he’d used to make breakfast. He finished washing it before setting it on a towel to dry and turning to face Bucky. “Hey there. Happy birthday.”

“Thanks. You know you don’t have to do this, right?” Bucky asked, pulling out the chair and sitting down. 

“I know. But I want to.” Steve grabbed a couple things off the counter and walked over, sticking a candle in the pancakes and lighting it. Bucky just shook his head before blowing out the candles with a soft smile. He looked up at Steve. 

“I don’t understand why you do all this.”

“I just made you pancakes.” Steve paused. “Mostly.”

Bucky’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean ‘mostly’?”

“I also got you something.” 

“Of course you did.”

Steve left the kitchen, heading to his room, and Bucky started on the pancakes while he waited for him to return. They had sprinkles baked into them as well as on top, just like the year before. Of course they were amazing. He couldn’t remember where Steve had learned to cook, but he was glad he did. 

After a minute Steve returned with a mid-sized package, putting it on the table beside Bucky. “Happy birthday.”

Bucky put down his fork, picking up the package neatly wrapped in navy blue paper. He slid his finger in the opening between the paper and slid it through, tearing the tape without damaging the paper. Steve watched him with an unreadable expression, and Bucky looked up at him with a frown. 

“What?”

“You always used to open packages like that. I would wrap anything I managed to give you in newspaper, so you’d save it to read later.”

Bucky was silent for a moment. “I don’t remember that.”

“I didn’t expect you to.” 

Bucky finished opening the package delicately, revealing a mid-sized journal. It was black and bound in leather, complete with a bookmark tucked between the cover and the pages. He ran his non-bionic hand over the cover, feeling the texture beneath his palm. 

“This is… really nice.”

“Do you like it? I noticed that your old one was full and you were just taping in pieces of binder paper. I figured you might need a second one.”

Bucky put it down, standing up from his chair. Then he had his arms around Steve, holding him close. “It’s perfect. Thank you.”

Steve seemed a little surprised at the hug, but after taking a moment to adjust wrapped his arms around Bucky. The hug was tentative at first, but eventually ended up more secure. 

It was understandable that Steve would be a little taken aback. Bucky didn’t hug him much. Or touch him much. But that turned out to be the first step in a route that saw him growing more and more intimate with Steve. It wasn’t romantic, not at that point. But it went from touching more often to hugging more often to platonic cuddling and eventually Bucky ending up in Steve’s bed. It helped with the nightmares. For both of them. 

The third modern birthday he’d spent with Steve started with him waking up in the other man’s bed, his face pressed into his pillow. As usual, Steve wasn’t in bed. He always woke up at an ungodly hour to go running, leaving Bucky alone in bed. It was something Bucky had taken to complaining about, only half joking about missing Steve in his absence. 

He lay in bed for a moment, just gathering himself. It took him a couple minutes to remember what day it was.

This time he wasn’t surprised when he walked out to the kitchen to find Steve sticking a candle in the usual stack of pancakes. 

“So this is going to be a tradition, huh?” he chuckled, smiling fondly at Steve. 

“Well you always eat them, and I haven’t heard any complaints from you.”

“Touché.” Bucky sat down, blowing out the candle unceremoniously. 

“What, you’re not even going to let me sing happy birthday?” Steve teased with a grin.

“You haven’t before. Why start now?”

“Maybe I was building up to it.”

“So you were playing the long game?”

“Maybe.” Steve’s grin had turned to a little smile. A conspiratorial one that Bucky knew so well by then. 

“Punk.”

“Jerk.” 

Bucky dug into his pancakes as Steve went to the counter, picking up a package that was similar to the one he’d wrapped the year before. This time it was a small rectangular box. He opened it to find… well, a box. He carefully took the top off the box to reveal… a collar. With a bell and a nametag that read ‘Alpine’. 

He looked up at Steve, who still had that little smile and was clearly fighting a grin. 

“Is this a kink thing?”

Steve’s expression changed in an instant, his face flushing red. “What? No! No, I’ve been working with the shelter for a month or so to find a cat that’s perfect for you, since you always feed the ones in the alleyway. We found this one, she’s a couple years old, and her name’s Alpine. Super calm, loves cuddling, seemed perfect for you…”

“Steve. Calm down. I’m kidding.” Bucky stood up, pulling Steve into a tight hug. Something in his chest was aching fondly. Steve had gotten him a cat. A companion. Someone who could be there for him no matter what, even when he didn’t feel up to human company. He absolutely loved cats, but he’d never asked Steve for one. It seemed like a lot to take on, and he knew Steve would say yes in an instant, whether of not he wanted a cat himself.

“We need a cat tree. And some toys, and food. And a lot of other stuff,” he noted, still holding Steve close.

“I know.” When Steve spoke, his lips were right next to Bucky’s ear. The sound sent pleasant shivers down his spine and made his face grow warm. He was suddenly glad Steve couldn’t see his face. “I thought we could go and get those things after you got finished eating and got ready. We can get it, bring it home, set it all up, and go pick up Alpine at about noon.” 

“That’s perfect.” Without thinking, Bucky placed a kiss on Steve’s warm cheek before pulling away. It just felt natural in the moment, and neither of them really processed the gesture. “Thank you, Steve.” 

“Yeah. Yeah, you’re welcome.” Steve smiled softly, then seemed to realize that Bucky had kissed his cheek. He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again, his face getting red again. Bucky just went back to eating his pancakes, pretending like nothing ever happened. 

They did end up getting all the things they needed and going to pick up Alpine around noon. She and Bucky were a perfect match right off the bat. She had a habit of jumping up on his shoulders when he was standing still or sitting down, rubbing her face against his rough cheek. And of course Bucky always reached up to pet her. The two became best friends in a matter of hours, and over the next year, they became practically inseparable. 

A much more gradual shift in Steve and Bucky’s relationship also took place that year. The kiss on the cheek turned out to be more than a one-time occurrence. They became more common, and after about a month Steve finally turned his head when Bucky kissed his cheek, turning it into a proper kiss. Bucky had just raised a hand to cup his cheek and deepened it. 

They never really discussed the change in their relationship. Falling in love and becoming more affectionate happened naturally, like falling asleep. Just as there wasn’t a clear moment to mark consciousness from unconsciousness, there was never a big defining moment in their relationship. Steve started referring to Bucky as his boyfriend and their outings as dates, and Bucky did the same. It was impossible to pinpoint exactly when the change happened. Things like their first ‘I love you’ happened so casually and so naturally that they just became a part of life.

Bucky actually remembered his birthday right off the bat the fourth year. He rolled out of bed, grabbing a pair of boxers and pants and pulling them on before heading out to the kitchen to the now-familiar sight of pancakes with sprinkles. Alpine meowed at him as he walked in. He grinned, placing a kiss on Steve’s cheek as he lit the candle. “You don’t have to do this every year, ya know.”

“I know, but I want to.” Steve put down the lighter and turned to kiss Bucky properly, long and slow. When he pulled away, he had a soft smile on his lips. “Are you going to let me sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to you this year?” 

“Absolutely not.” Bucky pecked his lips once more before blowing out the candle and sitting down to eat. Alpine, having no sense of boundaries, immediately started crying for whatever he was eating. He dabbed a bit of whipped cream on her nose as Steve went to the counter to retrieve his gift. The same blue wrapping paper as always. Steve was nothing if not predictable. 

The package was a similar size to the one he’d given him the year before that contained Alpine’s collar. He opened it carefully as always, then lifted the top off the box. Inside was a chain with two dog tags. 

“I finally got your tags back,” Steve said softly. “I thought-”

“One of these is yours,” Bucky noted as he scanned the text on them.

“Yeah. I have the other one.” Steve pulled a chain out from under his shirt. Two dog tags lay against his chest: one Bucky’s and one his own. “I thought it would be… I don’t know, sentimental? If you don’t like it, we can switch them back.”

“This is perfect, Steve.” Bucky hung the dog tags around his neck, then hooked a finger around Steve’s chain and pulled him down into a kiss. They didn’t break apart until Alpine decided she wanted more whipped cream and jumped up on the table, the soft thump of paws on wood drawing Bucky’s attention back to her. “Oh no you don’t.”

Four years together with Steve. Four birthdays, all pretty similar but unique in their own way. He wasn’t entire sure what to expect for the fifth, but he knew it would involve pancakes and a gift wrapped in blue paper, and he was right. Well, mostly. This year the wrapping paper had gold stripes over the blue.

Bucky raised an eyebrow as Steve brought it over, finishing off his bite of pancakes before speaking. “Fancy.”

Steve shrugged. “I thought it was nice. I found it at CVS.”

“How romantic.”

“It was pretty!”

Bucky rolled his eyes. The box was small and square, and when he opened it, he found himself looking at a small blue jewelry box. 

He could’ve sworn his heart stopped for a moment. 

He slowly opened the box, revealing a black band with inlaid diamonds tinted blue. When he looked up, Steve was kneeling down, one knee up. He was looking at him with a soft smile and an expression of pure adoration. “Bucky Barnes. Will you-”

“Yes,” Bucky replied instantly, not even giving him a chance to finish. “Absolutely I will.” Then he was kneeling on the floor right beside Steve, cupping his face in his hands and pulling him into a kiss. When he pulled away, it looked like Steve was trying not to cry.

“Hey, no crying. Save that for the wedding.”

Steve just took the box, slipping the ring onto Bucky’s metal finger before pulling him back into another kiss. After a long moment, he murmured a soft, “I love you.”

“I love you too, Steve. So damn much.”

“Happy birthday.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! If you'd like, you can follow me on tumblr![@underwhelmingalchemist](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/underwhelmingalchemist)


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